Concentric Shell Hot Chamber for Nuclear Reactor Thermal Management
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Solution Overview
Problem
Nuclear reactors with heavy liquid metal coolants face challenges in managing temperature gradients and corrosion, leading to high thermal loads on structural elements, which affects their reliability and design lifetime.
Innovation Solution
An integral type nuclear reactor design with a reactor vessel featuring a hot chamber and connecting pipes that include concentric inner and additional shells with gaps, allowing for coolant channels to distribute temperature evenly and reduce thermal loads, along with piston ring seals for ease of assembly and thermal expansion compensation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Power
If structural elements are located in the area of coolant outlet from the core to maximize reactor power density, then the reactor achieves higher power output, but the structural elements are exposed to high temperatures and temperature inhomogeneities which reduces their reliability and design lifetime
Solution Approach 1:
The hot chamber is divided into concentric shells (inner shell, intermediate shell, outer shell) that create separate flow channels. This segmentation allows the hot coolant to be distributed through multiple pathways, reducing localized thermal loads on any single structural element while maintaining high overall power output.
Solution Approach 2:
Cold coolant is introduced as an intermediary substance into the flow channels between the concentric shells. This cold coolant acts as a thermal mediator, mixing with the hot coolant to reduce its temperature before it reaches structural elements, thereby protecting them from excessive thermal stresses while preserving reactor power generation capability.
2Duration of action of stationary object
If the surface area of structural elements in contact with hot coolant is reduced to minimize thermal loads, then the design lifetime of structural elements increases, but the efficiency of heat removal from the core decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The design transitions from a single-chamber hot coolant path to a multi-shell concentric structure with flow channels in the radial dimension. This dimensional expansion creates additional heat transfer pathways without increasing the surface area of individual structural elements exposed to hot coolant, thus maintaining heat removal efficiency while reducing thermal loads on any single element.
Solution Approach 2:
The hot chamber is segmented into multiple concentric shells with intervening flow channels. This segmentation distributes the heat removal function across multiple surfaces and pathways, allowing efficient heat extraction from the core while limiting the thermal exposure of any single structural element through the cold coolant mixing mechanism.
3Temperature
If concentric shells with gaps are installed to distribute coolant flow and reduce thermal stresses, then the temperature distribution becomes more uniform and thermal loads decrease, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The hot chamber employs a nested doll structure with concentric shells (inner, intermediate, outer) placed one within another. This nesting approach achieves uniform temperature distribution and reduced thermal stresses through multiple flow channels, while the modular concentric design allows for standardized manufacturing and assembly, partially offsetting the increased structural complexity.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This design reduces thermal stresses and extends the design lifetime of structural elements by evenly distributing temperature and minimizing the surface area in contact with hot coolant, enhancing the reactor's reliability and maintenance accessibility.
Implementation Method 1
cold coolant from the heat exchangers into the flow channels of the hot chamber body and connecting pipes formed between the inner shell and the corresponding additional shell
Implementation Method 2
cold coolant enters at least one said channel of the hot chamber and at least one said channel of the connecting pipe from the outlet of the heat exchangers
Implementation Method 3
The detachable joints of the inner shell of the hot chamber with the plug and additional shells, as well as the detachable joints of the inner shell of the connecting pipe with the additional shell of the connecting pipe, are provided with piston ring seals. This makes it possible to compensate for the thermal expansion of the shells
Data Source
AI summary
Embodiments of the disclosure may include a reactor vessel with a lower chamber, a core, a hot chamber, an upper chamber, and heat exchangers. In some embodiments, the hot chamber may be located above the core and may include a substantially cylindrical body. In some embodiments, the hot chamber body may include an inner shell and an additional shell installed with a gap on the outside and being concentric with the inner shell of the hot chamber, forming at least one cooling channel. In some embodiments, the connecting pipe may include an inner shell and an additional shell installed with a gap on the outside, being concentric with the inner shell of the connecting pipe and forming at least one cooling channel of the connecting pipe, where the cooling channel of the hot chamber and the connecting pipe are in communication with the outlet of the heat exchangers.